Prevalence of chronic pain in psychiatric patients

Five hundred consecutive patients attending a psychiatric clinic were examined in order to ascertain the prevalence of chronic pain in various psychiatric illnesses and demographic categories. Chronic pain was found to be a frequent symptom in anxiety neurosis (60%), neurotic depression (45%) and hysteria (24.3%). Less than 3% of psychotic patients reported chronic pain. Females and those patients who had entered further education beyond secondary level were found to have significantly higher (P less than 0.001) representation as compared to the psychiatric population without pain. The results are in accordance with certain earlier studies carried out almost two decades ago. Chronic pain was found to be a common symptom of psychiatric illness, reported by 18.6% patients, especially those diagnosed as having neurosis. It was also reported more often by females and by those with a higher education. The reasons for these observations require investigation.